Automatic air-valve for gas-engines



D. E. OMALLEY.

AUTOMATiC AIR VALVE FOR GAS ENGINES. APPLICATION flLE'D 1AN.15. 1920.

1,361,771. Patented Dee. 7,*1920.

[ l.: E: -A 3 tot VIII/Illia A vv M UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

nANrnL E. OMALLEY, or SALINA, KANSAS.

AUTOMATIC AIR-VALVE FOR GAS-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 7, 1920.

Application led January 15, 1920. Serial No. 351,540.

of Kansas, have invented certain new and.

useful AImprovements in Automatic Air- Valves for Gas-Engines; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willI enable others skilled in the. art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in automatic air valves for gas engines, and it has more particular reference to an air valve which is especially designed to be used in connection with automobile engines.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an air valve of the above men tioned type which is designed to automatically control the admittance of additional air into the intake manifold of an engine, the amount of air admitted being automatically varied and controlled according to the speed 0f the motor to which the air is being fed.

Another obj ect of the invention is to provide an air valve of the above mentioned type which has manually controlled means incorporated therewith which is designed to enable the valve to be retained in a position to supply a small quantity of air to the intake manifold when the engine is running at its lowest speed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the above mentioned character which is extremely simple in construction, yet highly effective in use, one which is automatic in operation, and is eX- ceedingly inexpensive to both the manufacturer and the user, being of such construction that it may be readily applied on various types of automobiles and the like, by

any unskilled person in the art.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent fromv the following description.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in whichV like numerals are employed to designate like parts through the same Figure 1 is a side elevation. of a portion of an automobile engine equippedv with my improved device.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged elevational view of a device constructed in accordance with my invention;

suitable manner.

Fig. 3 is a sectional View, partly in elevation, of the device.

Fig. 4 is a view taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my' invention, the letter A designates a portion of an automobile engine wlth which my device is associated. VThe 'device is intended to supply additional air to the intake manifold of the engine (not shown), and 1t is so constructed that the amount of air supplied to 4the intake mani- Vfold will be controlled by means of a centrifugal governor 1 which is driven in any In this instance the governor 1s actuated by a belt 2 which is in yturn driven by means of the fan shaft 3. vWhile I have shown a belt-drive, I desire to be understood that the governor may be actuated in any other manner, such as for instance, by suitable gearing.

My improved device consists of a suitable supporting member 4 which maybe of any construction, according to the type of engine to which it is secured. The `engine shown is a Ford, and I have especially designed the support to be connected to a part of this engine in the manner shown. The support shownincludes a base which is adapted to be secured by means of bolts to the usual fianges which serve to connect the engine block to the crank case. Rising from the base 5 are a pair of standards Gand 7 and each of these standards is provided at its upper or free end with 'a bearing 8 or 9. Journaled in the bearing 8 is a shaft 10 which is driven by means of a belt 2, and mounted on this shaft in any suitable manner is the already referred to governor 1. Secured in any suitable mannerin the bearing 9, is a cylindrical piece of pipe 11 which will hereinafter be referred to, in' conjunction with the tube 12, as the air conduit. As is obvious, the tubeV 12 is adapted to lead to the intake manifold, being connected thereto in any desired manner. Slidably mounted within the air conduit is a cylindrical vvalve 13, which has swivel connection with the centrifugal governor mechanism. This valve 13 is provided with oppositely disposed substantially `V-shaped slots 14 which are designed to be uncovered by slidable movement of the valve, such movement bein controlled by the centrifugal governor. n order to'limit 14,7, so, bfy means ofzthe suction fcreatedwithvin the, intake manifold,.additional air will bedrafwn through theslots 121 and fed to the -engine..frNow, .should the speed of the -engine decrease, the. :valve will move to a closed position as is obvious, and air will be excluded, that is, if the engine is running at a very lowratelof speed. y

'.In'asmuch asit it isinot always desired vto have thewvalve closed, even when the eninexis running at av greatly reduced speed, have found. it advantageous to 'employ Vmeans to.retain the valve in a position to 'admita smallxquantity of air. VIn carrying out this feature, I. pivot-a lever 16 on an ear lformedonthebearing 9, and torone end of this lever vI.c'onnect a rod 17 which extends back toward theoperator, and terminates Vwithin hisreach so that it may be. actuated by him. F rom this construction it will be seen that .when the operator moves the rod 17 vforward, the lever 16 will assume a position fsu'ch .asindicated, in dotted lines in 'F ig. 3,"inswhich lpositionthe lower free end thereof has been-moved into the upper slot 14 inLvalve 13. So,.it'will be seen that this position of the lever will prevent the valve from cl'osing'entirely. In other words, the

yvalverl?) will not'be permitted to move to its .innermost position, therefor-@the slots y'14;willbe'partiallyiuncovered and a small quantity .ofyair ywill be permitted to pass therethrough.- .l f A .Attention is directed to the fact V'that the pivoted :lever ljalso serves lanother purpose, .thatfis, it maybe used to hold'the valve in a-.qclosed position. This feature will -be foundadvantageous when starting the en- Vgine','-becauseit -will 'pevent the admittance y .of the additional air k*which `isunot desired duringgsthefstarting of-.the engine. `To accomplis'hthisr; feature the yrod 17 will be moved.'forward by the `operator, thus moving the ffree' end of thev lever .lbetween the yvalvjfe 13 ran'fd the centritugalfgovernor as in- .dicated inldottedflines in Fig.:2, which posi- 'tiomof parts willprevent `opening of this n I z." v'- 'Y Y f .inthe-foregoingdescri'ption and in the .drawingal -have shown a particular type f 'supportin member-4, lbut, I ydesirerit, to Phe unrlerstoo 1 that th-s Vsupportnig 'member maybe of various other designs according to the type of automobile with which the device is to be used. The centrifugal governortoo,;may be associated with the valve in various other ways besides the way it is shown inthe drawings. The only essential part ol my device, is a suitable supporting member, Va valve ofthe type set forth, a conduit of the type described, and the means described, for limiting the inward and outward movement of the valve with respect to the'conduit. I 1

From the foregoing description taken in conunction with the accompanying drawings, theymanner in which my device operates is thought to be obvious, therefore, further description 4is deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood that the form: of

my inventionV herein shown and described is to be taken as ya .preferred form of the same, and that various 'changesin the shape, size, vand `arrangement of parts may be .resorted to without -departure fromthe spirit of the invention or the scope of the subj oined claims.

I claim 1. Anauxiliary air intake valve. forinternal combustion engines .comprising a supporting member, an air conduit carriedv thereby, a valve sleeve slidable in said passage,a centrifugal. .governor connected/to said sleeve,'the latter being provided with a shoulder, and a manually controlled lever pivoted on the supporting member in a position to have 'itszi'ree end engaged .behind said shoulder andhold theivalve clesed.

2. An auxiliary air valve for kinternal combustion .engines comprisinganair conduit adaptedto vlead to the intake mani- Y fold, a centrifugally controlled V.yalve slidably `mounted in vsaid conduit and provided with an openingl adapted toxbeuncovered by its sliding movement,a supporting member'for'the foregoing parts, and a manually controlled lever pivotally ymounted on theV member .in a position to have its-free end .swung into the opening inthe valveto retain the samein a partially uncovered position, also vserving tohold the valve closed.

3. An 'auxiliary airV valve for linternal combustion engines comprisingan airconduit adapted to..lead tothe intake..manifold, ar centrifugally controlled valve slidably mountedrin said conduit land provided l with an opening adapted toibe uncovered by. its sliding'movement, a supporting .member forthe'lioregoing parts, and va manually operated member VcaI-ri'edby Vthe supporting member, being vadapted .to coact iwithxthe opening inthe valve forfretainingthe latter partially open.y

4. An auxiliary air valve y'internal :combustion enginesr .comprising a supportair to the intake manifold, a oentrifugally controlled cylindrical valve slidable in said conduit and provided with oppositely disposed slots through which air is admitted, said conduit being provided with a lateral projection which extends into one of said slots in the valve and serves to limit the outward movement of the latter and also prevents rotary movement thereof, and a manually controlled lever pivotally mounted 10 on the supporting member in a position to have its free end swung into engagement with the valve to hold Said Slots partially uncovered, and also to hold the valveolosed.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 15 my hand.

DANIELY E. OMALLEY. 

